Press Release No. G/41/00
4 October 2000

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services)—The Greater Mekong Subregion Business Forum (GMS-BF) has been officially launched by representatives of national chambers of commerce and industry and business leaders at a meeting concluded today.

The two-day meeting was jointly organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Development Bank in collaboration with business associations of the GMS countries in Bangkok from 3-4 October 2000.

In a statement to the GMS Business Forum Plus, Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of ESCAP said that it is well recognized that economic development to be sustainable cannot be government-driven only. The non-governmental sector including the business sector has a very important role to play especially in countries which are in the process of transition to market economy, as most of the GMS countries are.

The Executive Secretary pointed out that this year’s ESCAP Commission has adopted a resolution ---“Decade of Greater Mekong Subregion Development Cooperation, 2000-2009” calling for a concerted strategy and close coordination among member countries and relevant development agencies to promote cooperation among GMS countries in enhancing economic and social development and poverty alleviation in this area.

He urged the Forum to address a critical issue for future economic development of the GMS, namely the use of information technology as a driving force for economic growth. He called for a concerted effort to enable GMS countries to develop a level of IT appropriate to their level of development so that they too can benefit from the opportunities brought about by this advanced technology.

The GMS Business Forum, an ESCAP-ADB joint initiative under the framework of the GMS Programme, is intended to promote networking among business associations and enterprises in the subregion as well as to enhance the public and private sector partnership by providing direct and regular channel for the private sector to communicate with the GMS governments. It also seeks to increase awareness of business and investment opportunities in the region. It will therefore enhance both public and private institutions, in a pro-growth, pro-prosperity partnership.

“Such public-private approach is more important than ever after the crisis of 1997, whose after shocks are still with us today”, said Ms. Christine Wallich, Director, Infrastructure, Energy and Financial Sectors Department of the Asian Development Bank said in her opening remarks to the meeting. “There is now a growing acceptance that the private sector has a key role to play in economic development and in reducing the level of poverty in our countries”. Ms. Wallich cited some statistics that 89 per cent of those escaping poverty found jobs in private sector, not the public. She further cited that from 1987-1998 the rate of private sector job creation to public job creation ranges from 87:1 to 10:1.

“To maximize the public private sector synergies the Business Forum will promote initiatives for strengthening indigenous private sectors especially in the transition economies of Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam”, said Ms. Wallich. They include skills and management training, institutional twining, technology transfer, information dissemination business seminars and trade fairs as well as e-commerce web facility and data base on “business impediments” are being planned.

In a welcome address, Mr. Sansern Wongcha-um, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Board of Thailand reiterated Thailand’s firm commitment to support the GMS programme which will enhance the development of the Asian region as a whole. “Thailand is responding to these concerns through the integrated and holistic development framework. Thailand’s current development themes emphasize development which is human-centred, holistic, sustainable and balanced between economic and social aspects, while also promoting decentralization and localization.”

The Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry was appointed as the first chairman of the GMS Business Forum. The Chair will be rotated among participating countries’ business organizations in alphabetical order every three years.